Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel.

I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”

―

Hunter S. Thompson

===============

“I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.”

―

Tom Waits

==================

Well.

………. Trump enjoying his music ……….

Its 2017 and I took a moment and tried to figure out why 2016 felt like such a lousy year.

Because, personally, it wasn’t really that bad.

And, yeah, Trump was elected … but presidents come and presidents go and we everyday schmucks seem to muddle along.

And, in fact, if you do a little research some good shit happened this year.

While It may not have felt like it global violence is down.

While it may not have felt like it crime was down.

While it may not have felt like it the economy grew, jobs continue to increase <a record number of months straight I believe> and household income is rising.

While it may not feel like it global poverty is down and global literacy is up.

While it may not feel like it America is more racially diverse, more racially united and minorities are gaining more opportunities than ever before.

Now.

Within all of that you will not find any spectacular and vivid extreme examples of successes … much of our good was unspectacularly good positive news for most people <and how we do not amplify these many>.

And, yes, the issue appears to be few spectacular extreme examples of bad <and how we amplify these few>.

We had more good in 2016 then bad … but the fewer bad things just looked & felt worse.

It definitely seemed to be a year where a lot of amazing people died and a lot of social progress made over the years seemed to slide backwards.

With regard to the latter, I tend to believe society ebbs & flows reaching forward two steps with progress only to take one step back just to get its feet under themselves.

That can feel bad.

But why should we ignore the good?

American Teen Graduation Rate Reaches Historic High

Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, low-income, disabled, and English-learning students have all accomplished promising gains, creating a whopping 83.2% graduation rate for the nation as a whole.

The United States has also reached a new all-time low number of teen birth rates.

There was good news in the U.S. economy.

Markets hit record highs, wages rose and unemployment dropped to its lowest rate in nine years.

Veteran Homelessness Has Dropped 50% Since 2010

The number of U.S. veterans experiencing homelessness in the United States has been cut nearly in half since 2010, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. The data revealed a 17 percent decrease in veteran homelessness between January 2015 and January 2016—quadruple the previous year’s annual decline—and a 47 percent decrease since 2010.

2016 Was One of the Safest Years in Aviation History

Surpassed only in 2013 – which experienced just 265 deaths out of the 3 billion people who boarded planes – records in the most recent year ended with 325 deaths in total worldwide, which is about 1 in every 10,769,230 travelers.

Obama banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons.

We have proof that Humans can Impact Climate and Environment: Ozone hole starts to heal itself

Some 30 years after first being spotted, it seems that treacherous hole is starting to heal itself. A decline in the use of atmospheric chlorine from items such as aerosols and refrigerators is key to this success. Well done to all of us for heeding the warning!

The fruits are being reaped from the 1987 Montreal Protocol which banned nations from using chemicals contributing to the hole that was allowing the sun’s ultraviolet radiation to pass into our atmosphere unhindered.

Hearts got healthier

Years of warnings finally paid off with results published in November revealing a dramatic decline in coronary heart disease. Over a 30-year period the American Medical Association found that deaths from the disease had decreased by 20 percent. It took 2016 to deliver some good news regarding the leading global cause of death, which kills one in seven people in the US.

Regardless.

None of that helped me better understand the doom & gloom associated with 2016. That is until I went back to the CNN fake analysis and relooked at the music section.

====== CNN ======

MUSIC

For this category, we looked at deaths of Grammy winners in the performing categories only (no technical awards). And yes, 2016 really was a brutal year for our musical heroes. We said goodbye to 13 Grammy winners, including such giants as Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey and Maurice White. It wasn’t as grim as 2006, when 15 Grammy honorees died, including Lou Rawls, Freddy Fender and Billy Preston. But departed-star wattage this year — OMG, Prince! — was much higher.

Music is, and will always remain, the voice of the past, present & future to us.

When that voice is ripped from our lives we … well … lose a little of the past, present & future.

That hurts.

And, no, this is not ‘elevating a celebrity to some stupid status’ but rather it is ‘their music was a part of the fabric of our lives … and now that fabric has been torn in some way.’

I could argue that there was not one person, at least in America, who was not affected personally in some way this year by a musical death.

Therefore … there was at least a slim thread of gloom which wove its way thru the hearts & souls of the people.

And, to me, that is why 2016 has a feeling of being a crappy year. That underlying thread remains for everyone … and then for many others you start building additional crappy shit on top … which means some people really did have a crappy year mentally.

My 2017?

I am ditching the Doom ‘n Gloom spirit and adopting a wait and see attitude.

And I will do so listening to old musicians, present musicians and all the musicians who come trundling down the future road.

It is their music that will bind us to some future tragedy as they depart but ground us in what is good about what we have and had. Some people refer to that as ‘the circle of Life.’

“The pen may indeed be mightier than the sword, but the wordsmith would do well to welcome the blacksmith back into the fold, so that artisan craftsmanship the world over may fend off the ravages of industrialised homogeneity and bland monoculture.”

―

Alex Morritt

=========================

“We are puzzle pieces, bragging about being puzzle pieces, rather than being the picture.”

―

Tom Althouse

=========================

Whew.

If I were getting paid for every time I was being asked my thoughts about Trump I would be significantly wealthier than I am now.

This one is about uniting people and the responsibility a leader has in actively uniting people <rather than passively assuming people will ‘follow the title’> … and the rookie mistakes Mr. President Elect is making.

Now.

As I said in an earlier piece … it would behoove Mr. Trump to view his new position as a business leader in which America is an organization <not a kingdom> and his new promotion demands he unites his organization in order to effectively perform as an organization. This is what I said in ‘dealing with WTF’:

====

So … Mr. President elect Trump.

Maybe you should not consider this a win but rather a promotion where:

About 100 million of your 200 million employees are, at minimum, skeptical you have the temperament or the skills to have earned that promotion.

Let’s call this the “WTF employees.”

About 72 million of your 200 million employees unequivocally did not believe you were deserving of the promotion.

Let’s call these the “WTF … holy shit” employees.

About 40 million of your 200 million employees were so indifferent as to whether you got this promotion or not that they most likely had no clue who you were when it was announced.

Let’s call these the “I don’t give a fuck” employees.

About 60 million of your 200 million employees thought you should get the promotion … but … uh oh … about 30 million of those employees didn’t think you were actually qualified or had the temperament for the job … they just didn’t like the alternatives.

Lets call these the “oh shit, what happens next?” employees.

So, Mr. President elect Trump, time to grow up and lead.

===

But … to date … he has not shown that he understands anything that I wrote.

To date … he has shown no signs of knowing how to lead nor to unite.

To date … he has only confirmed my belief he has no idea how to lead nor does he understand, or have the experience, on how to positively build an organizational culture.

To date … he has only He is solely a purely transactional operator.

That is not a leader.

Now.

Uniting an organization is more difficult than it may seem.

It is not just offering a vision <although that helps>.

It is not just offering expectations of specific rules of behavior <although that helps>.

It is not just offering words about being united <although that helps>.

It is not just offering insights into obstacles and some specificity with regard to why they can be overcome <although that helps>.

It is not just offering leadership … uhm … because leadership is not a crown you have ‘won’ and you put on your head but rather a crown bestowed upon you by the followers.

Uniting takes all of these things.

Trump is doing none of these things.

In fact.

Just the opposite.

I watch Mr. Trump fail to unite America and drive a wedge between us <and, yes, silence is an effective divider>.

While he goes out of his way to attack the cast of Saturday Night Live and a union leader and … well … any individual who personally criticizes him … and he tweets day and night … he has issued no tweets nor made any focused statements publicly to address angst of those who may not have voted for him nor accepted any responsibility that his words may have encouraged some not-so-nice behavior.

He has not actively or proactively taken steps to unite.

Okay.

If you know anything about uniting people you will know uniting through shared values is step one. Step two is uniting by leveraging some shared opinions <and you can even shape some of these if you are a good leader>.

If you do both steps you have alignment and progress of the whole has at least a fighting chance.

By the way … uniting solely off of some shared opinion <or opinions> is hollow alignment. Mostly because … well … opinions are conjecture – not facts. In addition … people can have opinions on a myriad of things and, yet, not care enough to actually do something on the opinion issue.

People ACT when values are associated but often just THINK when it comes to opinions.

A good leader <someone not like Trump> will never try to unite people that share the same opinions because they most likely don’t have a deep enough interest to consistently participate <therefore progress is impeded>.

Values, on the other hand, are deeper. People attain satisfaction <which is even more important than happiness> when they do shit that matches their values.

That means shared values means ‘team participation’ and higher involvement and , maybe most importantly, a higher level of resilience if there is no short term outcome gratification.

I will note, before I leave this particular topic, Trump may not be able to actually do this. Why? Well. Effective organizations tend to reflect the values of its leader, in other words, all share some common values. I am not sure Trump has any values <beyond wealth & winning … neither of which are values>.

Ok. Moving on.

Uniters always seek opportunities to unite. And often when things appear most divided is when you actually find the easiest opportunity to unite. When there are a lot of frustrated people who share the same values and want to find some place in the world where they can see some success … well … you have an opportunity to align around a shared identity with a desire to make a difference.

Oh, we have that opportunity and they are waiting for you to bring them together Mr. President Elect.

I say all this, watching Trump do his “thank you tour” and talking about uniting the country, and it gives me flashbacks to the first time I tried to teach a class of High school students. He is making the same mistake every beginner teacher makes <and I will note that I, as a leader, learned more about uniting from a class of high school juniors than in any business experience I ever had>.

What do I mean?

Teaching is difficult in and of itself but connecting with your audience <the class as a whole> is what makes or breaks teaching. The natural inclination when you first start teaching is to encourage those who connect with what you are saying to encourage dialogue. Inevitably this feeds you more than it does the class as a whole. It isolates the engagers from the rest of the class just as it feeds you with positive reinforcement that you are ‘getting through.’

You actually eventually learn to teach to the farthest student in the room <or as close to farthest as you can>. This is not about ‘dumbing down’ the message … this is about uniting the class in learning and engagement. It is about showing that all the students really aren’t that different. Sure. Some are smarter than others <but that doesn’t mean that on any given day on any given subject that anyone in the room can ‘play’ with the smartest>.

Trump misses that. His main audience would gain a better understanding that on occasion they are as smart as the ‘intellectuals’ … but that the ‘so-called intellectuals’ aren’t as clueless as they think.

And the ‘so-called intellectuals’ would learn a good dose of humility in that these ‘so-called deplorables’ aren’t always idiots and can “play” on occasion in a very smart insightful way.

By the way … we all do this <play to those who like us and like what we say>.

It is just those who have more experience in building organizations recognize it and … well … fight the easy path <albeit we do it in some sneaky ways like ‘engaging first with the idea advocates’ and such>.

I don’t criticize Trump for having rallies with his ‘rabid few followers’ but I do criticize him for not understanding this does nothing to unite <and, in fact, only encourages divisive ‘crowd psychology thinking‘>.

======

“This is pre-eminently the leadership quality–the ability to organize all the forces there are in an enterprise and make them serve a common purpose. Men with this ability create a group power rather than express a personal power.”

—-

Mary Parker Follett

====

As teachers know it’s not about trying to be cool with the kids it is about building a bridge to a relationship in which effective listening <which begets desired behavior> occurs.

You learn to aim for “little and often” rather than larger, more lengthy involved interactions. You assume your involvement will be unwelcome initially.

You know it is all about gently persuading the student that you are committed to building trust.

You know that some approaches you make will be rejected.

You know that students test you and your commitment.

You know that you have to give your time freely and expect nothing in return.

You know that the ‘consistent & persistent’ approach can lead to a positive respectful ongoing relationship.

——

Proactively developing relationships with students.

And here’s where we really part company. Of course, it will help behaviour if kids like you. Of course, there’s something gratifying about kids, particularly awkward kids, liking you. However, this is not behaviour management, this is manipulation. It is not enough for kids to behave for you because they like you, they should behave even if they hate you. As soon as you start trying to make the kids like you as a behaviour management strategy you have moved into appeasement. You will end up lavishing attention on the worst behaved and ignoring the well behaved. You will send the message that behaving is a favour you do for teachers you like, not an expectation across the school. Teachers need to be able to make kids do things they don’t like, and accept things they don’t like.

Our current failing education system owes a lot to desperate attempts to make the kids happy at the cost of discipline and learning.

——————-

Here is the thing about uniting.

Events can unite but a leader has to build unity.

If you play fast and loose with rules and laws and behavior … well … that is the behavior that is encouraged. Do that in a classroom with a bunch of teens and see where that gets you.

If you play fast and loose with words and hyperbole <exaggeration> … well … that is the behavior that is encouraged. Do that in a classroom with a bunch of teens and see where that gets you.

He’s not dumb but he’s not intellectual and has a short attention span.

He may be a brilliant conman but con-men use word salads, don’t care if they contradict themselves and depend on people to pick out what they want to hear and tell themselves that he didn’t mean the rest.

But that’s the kind of shit that catches up to a leader. You cannot stay ahead of lies & smiles.

But you learn very very quickly as a leader you have to assume the responsibility of the optics … no matter how far reaching the impact of the optic.

What this really means is that we never confuse optics and reality. In fact. We learn they have to be synonymous … albeit the optics are metaphoric and the reality is the stark truth. But we never confuse the two nor do we ever permit them to be misaligned. We learn that fast because receivers of information are fairly unforgiving with hyperbole, exaggeration, semi truths and selective facts.

Sure.

We all get tempted to make something look bigger than it really is. But you only do it once before you realize the cost – employee lack of trust, employee grumbling, employee vocal disagreement, employee division – is far too high in the long run in terms of organizational efficiency & effectiveness.

Mr. Trump continues to makes this rookie mistake … and even seems to think that pattern of behavior can continue.

He is attempting to lead by <1> appealing to the small minority who adore him … ignoring the rest of the class, <2> appealing to tactics rather than strategy, i.e., proof trumps plans, and <3> simply accepting the title he ‘won’ … ,i.e., I was promoted which means you owe me respect <not that I earned it> and <4> optics versus reality <he is a master of creating an alternative universe where his ‘truths’ reside>.

This is the kind of crap a beginner leader or a young person who gets their first serious promotion do. And this is the kind of crap that any leader who manages a large group of employees knows is … well … crap from a leadership and uniting perspective.

You cannot lead and unite by appealing to the least of us.

You cannot lead and unite by being the least intelligent, the least dignified, the least structured and the least visionary.

The least does not lead us upwards.

The least divides in that it sections off those willing to thrive in an opinion world versus those who seek something better <and facts>.

The impression left after watching the motions of birds is that of extreme mobility – a life of perpetual impulse checked only by fear.

—-

Richard Jefferies

======

“My fundamental philosophy is that you owe it to society to transfer to them any knowledge you have that might be useful.”

—-

Leroy Hood

=====

Well.

Because USA just faced is heinous tradition called ‘black Friday’ <a made up sales day to encourage people to buy things they most likely don’t need under the guise of ‘early start for Christmas shopping’ — this is a made up day created by retail sellers solely to sell more shit early> I started thinking about how the ‘death of malls’ was a reflection of the American rural/urban divide.

Ok.

Maybe the death of malls is a metaphor.

Regardless.

A long time ago I wrote about the convenience economy.

Malls were most likely the first step into the larger convenience economy <it had actually existed with the general store – one stop for everything – but malls took it to a new level>. Under the guise of ‘saving time’ convenience and consumption are inextricably linked. This meant that as malls crept out of suburbia and into rural America it warped the existing attitudes & behaviors affecting the soul of what made rural America <and I could argue what actually made America> what it was – in terms of time, convenience, consumption and , unfortunately, economy.

Joan Didion wrote in 1979: “malls became cities in which no one lives but everyone consumes.”

Now? Malls are almost like ancient ruins … and yet the population still lives in the ruins. That is what happens when no one is there to consume but the people there still have to live.

Sprawling malls were a natural product of the post world war 2 as Americans with cars and money spread to the suburbs. They were thrown up at a furious pace as shoppers fled cities, peaking at a few hundred per year at one point in the 1980s <Paco Underhill author of Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping>.

From there they naturally expanded their reach farther into rural America spreading their ‘urban wares’ to a population who could only have seen those things on tv up until that point.

This all came at a cost.

Yeah.

Rural America paid a price for large retail … the mom and pop small business and down town general stores lost the battle … and a part of the soul & heart of rural America was also lost to malls and large retail. Yeah. In the short term it appeared like jobs were created, tax revenue increased and the local economy improved. And, yet, in gaining short term economic reasons … culture was lost, some values were lost and … well … local ideas were lost.

This has left us in a farther divided America as malls crashed and burned not only leaving a mall overstock in their wake but as they left <because economics suggested they should step back from rural America> they left a ‘less grounded’ landscape behind.

Malls tore out the soul of middle America and never replaced it with anything worthwhile while there … and never placed anything behind when it left.

I have driven across the United States several times. I have seen small businesses in places I could never imagine and seen dying, or dead, shopping malls dotting the landscape most often in locations where there are severe socioeconomic shifts. I don’t know the exact numbers but the last ones I saw suggested that closings of existing malls will number somewhere between 15 to 50%.

It is fairly easy for me to suggest that while artificially bloating the financial economy when there … their actual success was dependent upon the slicing, dicing and stripping away what was built up over generations. I would suggest, on a side, note, we have been doing this to rural America for years <not just with malls>.

And I don’t have to suggest because it is fact … that the departure of malls from rural areas has simply exposed the obscenity of their existence. The holes they leave behind showcase the years of neglect, exploitation, abuse, poor local government decisions, and short-sighted policy which transformed a thriving rural landscape into a hollowed out long list of small towns and cities. In many of these areas their existence had masked a steady decline <which they had actually contributed to> and their departure put a spotlight on a way of Life shutting down <albeit leaving a population which doesn’t want to shut down yet>.

I would also say, sadly I may add, that spotlight forced a local population to face a pervasive sense of fear and loss.

Having done it … I can say that just driving through town after town of dead malls, closed factories, shuttered stores, abandoned mines, empty schools, roads in need of repair and empty homes … and you can feel their loss.

If you want to get a sense of divided America explore the decline of malls.

Simplistically, Malls are a reflection of eating our own. Just as online shopping is making brick & mortar increasingly irrelevant the malls made the once thriving local business communities less relevant.

But their cost is even deeper than that.

The economy has fundamentally shifted because technology has decreased the costs of entry and performance by businesses. This means business models are quickly shifting because of changes coming faster than ever before.

For example.

Would you invest in a factory that made anything but it took 3 years to build the factory? …..I’m guessing no, because how would you know the thing would still be in demand?

Or that your method of manufacturing would still be the most cost effective way?

Or that your raw materials would be affordable to make the product at a certain price?

Or that your labor costs would allow you to hit certain price points?

What this means is that even a rural economy seeking to refind it’s ‘American mojo’ is faced with an uncertain business landscape which makes it more difficult for a rural community to rebuild a successful local economy based on what they knew, and know, is successful.

And, yeah, this is more than about money. Because, yeah, rebuilding a thriving rural economy is not just about money & profits & jobs. It is also about heart & soul & the intangibles.

We urban/suburban folk forget that.

Let me be unequivocally clear <and I hope some politician reads this> … rural American prosperity is not just found in the wallet but in the soul. In other words … I can place a general store in a small community and the owner doesn’t dream of wealth beyond anything he/she can dream of but rather comfortable earnings and a gathering place so that the community thrives.

Our ‘urban objectives’ are often different than ‘rural objective.’

And maybe that is part of my point on the divide in America. Equality comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

An urban idea, malls, stripped parts of America of its soul. And what that meant is while rural America could always stand tall with unequal, as in better, values & soul versus the high falutin’ intellectual urban/suburban folk … malls stripped them of the main portion of what permitted them to remain ‘equal’ even though incomes may not have been equal.

Look.

I disagree with some experts who suggest that retail often mirrors the natural life cycle of the surrounding community and it is about demographics. I believe retail is an organism in and of itself driven by profit not by humanism.

And I believe retail, at its heart, is driven by an urban ‘heartbeat’ which is constantly trying to reapply it to rural America <it is fairly rare to have a rural idea expand to dominate urban>. I say that because we don’t talk about it often but ‘progress’, which is most often associated with a healthy economic metabolism, is mostly visible in urban/suburban America and not rural America.

Which is … well … kind of nuts.

Why?

Because I could easily argue that, in a stark judgement, that America’s achievements were built upon rural America … and, yet, the rising levels of material well-being, education and health actually reside in urban/suburban America. Add in some fairly shocking statistics on life expectancy and social mobility and the crumbling mall retail structure in Middle America becomes symbolic for many of their woes.

We all know that while the economy may not be robust that wealth is certainly being generated, and often displayed in some gaudy ostentatious ways <see Trump tower as an example> and amazing technological innovations have become common in households and certainly prosperity exists, though almost exclusively in a sliver of America, all of which suggests that the economic infrastructure is visibly changing even while it is semi-working. And by ‘semi-working’ I go back to malls as an example … it is mostly a system of cannibalism. It is a system and society that is devouring its own.

Urban America has been picking prosperity from the slowly decaying carcass of rural America. This carcass is symbolic of the hollowing out of rural America.

For some long time now, the economy has been driven by investment banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, real estate developers, insurance goliaths and a whole range of companies and industries that make nothing but rather make money off of money.

In the end.

I purposefully used ‘stripping’ and ‘cannibalism’ and ‘eating our own’ because that is what we have done to a significant portion of America … and, more significantly, a portion of America who believes they created America AND believes if anyone would ask them … they could help rebuild America.

I use malls, and their death, as an example of what we ‘innovators of progress’ have done. And while many of us may have acted with real best intentions … it was a failure. And, worse, we have failed a significant portion of America.

We don’t owe portions of America because we have taken away their malls … we owe them the assistance to let them rebuild the America they know should be built.

And am I suggesting going ‘back’?

Only partially.

The general stores will most likely never return. The mines will never reopen. Some schools are shuttered forever. But to rebuild a community you give them their soul back first & foremost.

Anything built with soul will make America great and will last for generations.

“it is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

–

Charles Darwin

=================

On November 18th 2009 … 1,899 posts ago … I wrote these words:

Welcome to Enlightened Conflict.

It was my 1st post. I suggested the site would do 3 things for readers:

make you think

beautiful words used beautifully

may learn, and unlearn, some things

All I really believe I have done is write about uncertainty and uncertain things <albeit couched in a variety of topics and opinions>.

As the author of this site I have learned one thing for sure … Uncertainty truly is a real bitch.

It encompasses an inability to choose, a lack of clarity or evidence to a foreseeable outcome and throws in a nice dose of ‘little to be hopeful for’ and some shit to fear the possibility of.

It creates a suspicion that the future just may not be the one you were hoping for.

That said.

In my 1,900th post I decided to talk a little about what I perceive as a unique time, at least in our lifetime. It is a point in which general uncertainty is colliding with personal uncertainty which is colliding with leadership uncertainty.

Why is this unique?

Well.

This alignment rarely happens.

We may have some personal uncertainty but we look to our leaders and they offer certainty. Or maybe we have some leadership uncertainty but we feel good about ourselves and you just do what you know is right.

You get the point.

Now.

Far too often, I included, we suggest that uncertainty is about a test in character. But today, in the present, this is becoming a test in skill, competency, abilities and, yes, character. We will be tested on all fronts … inside ourselves as well as outside ourselves. We will need to decide what we are truly good, if not great, at and either stand aside and let someone else do what needs to be done or permit ourselves to accept that it just ain’t gonna happen the way we wish it would happen. That is a test on all fronts not just character.

Regardless.

This is a moment. A moment in which uncertainty reigns. A moment within the ‘tide of the affairs of men. ‘

Yeah … within my 1st 5 posts, on December 5th 2009, I posted this:

—————

There is a tide in the affairs of menWhich, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;Omitted, all the voyage of their lifeIs bound in shallows and in miseries.On such a full sea are we now afloat,And we must take the current when it serves,Or lose our ventures.

WilliamShakespeare

========

This quote is a reminder that opportunities in life are fleeting, but there are many … uhm … if you pay attention.

And, yes, I do think it is nice to remind yourself there are many opportunities ebbing and flowing in front of us <because then you stop dwelling on regrets>.

But I imagine my point today is that while we should seek these tides and be aware they exist … sometimes the tide in the affairs of men is thrust upon us.

I write today feeling like that last thought better reflects the uncertain moment we live in presently.

To help … I pulled out my battered copy of Hayakawa’s “Use the Right Word” trying to … well … find the right words.

These are the words we use to refer to factors, and moments, that are outstanding, crucial or that have considerable force or effect. The word ‘significant’ itself suggests something that is outstanding because it is especially meaningful or excellent; no urgency or forcefulness is necessarily suggested by the word — its impact is set in stone and solid.

The power of the individual word is that it contains, and retains, each aspect of the synonym words.

So, yes, what makes this moment so solidly significant … is its less than solid uncertainty.

And maybe that is why this particular uncertainty in the present seems a little more agonizing.

=====

“Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.”

–

William James

=====

I am not a ‘glass is half empty’ view of Life and living Life guy, yet, James has a point here.

Almost everything we do, certainly anything good, is built on the shambles of something. Therefore, our existence is challenged by the threat of some helpless agony … in our pursuit of being happier with some unknown certainty.

In this case … the shambles we are trying to build upon is ‘uncertainty.’

And while some may suggest “how the hell can you build something out of nothing” I would suggest that is what we do when we are at our best.

When we use our skills, whatever capabilities we have and work together while being the best people we can be … we build something out of the nothingness uncertainty.

Here is what I know.

We all seek to make some positive impact on the world whether that world be our immediate circle or some grand global circle.

And I read somewhere that to live nobly is to avert one’s eyes from the bad and seek that which can be found in the light of good.

And I think that is what James hints at … averting one’s eyes is … well … not easy.

Tell someone to not look at something and the temptation to look increases exponentially. And, let’s be absolutely clear, while uncertainty resides mostly in nothingness, and nothing tangible, we place that uncertainty in tangible things <events or people> so that we can stare at it as a prime example of uncertainty.

It is not that we seek the agony and sadness of Life … I tend to believe we want some tangibleness because then it seems more easily conquered.

And then this uncertainty alignment agony takes on a whole new level … our inevitable desire to create some plans to make things certain.

Yikes.

We are taught almost from day one that planning, and a plan, is the key to success and happiness. In other words … this suggests we can … uhm … plan for certainty.

That seems kinda crazy.

Shit.

It sounds like agony.

In fact.

It sounds like we are constantly sifting through the shambles of plans made and broken as we seek to make some progress <difficult to define without some plan I guess> in Life.

===

“The detective thinks he is investigating a murder. But truly he is investigating something else altogether, something he cannot grasp hold of directly. Satisfaction will be rare. Uncertainty will be your natural state. Much of your life will be spent in the dark woods, no path visible, with fear and loneliness your only companions.

But answers exist.

Solutions wait for you, trembling, pulling you to them, calling your name, even if you cannot hear.

I believe that someday, perhaps many lifetimes from now, all will be explained, and all mysteries will be solved. All knowledge will be free for the taking, including the biggest mystery of all – who we really are.

But for now, each detective, alone in the woods, must take the clues and solve mysteries alone.”

—

Jacque Silette

<fictional detective>

====

Look.

Uncertainty is a royal bitch. It certainly makes us question ourselves — who we are as an individual and what we are truly capable of. Today’s version of uncertainty is just our own version to the nth degree as it encompasses all things in our lives.

Here is the good news.

We all know answers exist … and we all know they await us … even if we cannot hear them … but we all know certainty exists somewhere.

This means we are constantly investigating who we really are and what we are really good at … often desperately grabbing at clues or proof to provide some comfort that we have either solved the mystery … or at least are on the path to solving it.

I will note that at all times I tend to find the “who you really are” as a silly, if not stupid, self-question. Mostly because who I am today is not who I will necessarily be tomorrow.

But, in particular, in this time and place I tend to think it sells the moment short. It encourages us to find our inner strength and inner core of who we are and … well … we will be able to walk the bridge from uncertainty to more certain things & places.

That is wrong.

And dangerously wrong.

We are going to be judged for this moment in time.

That I can guarantee.

And it will not solely be on character. It will be on skills, abilities, capabilities and how well we identified what we could do and whether we did it or not.

This may sound harsh but the only people who will know who we truly are today are not us … but someone somewhere in a future yet to be defined. That will not stop us from being detectives … in fact … it will most likely be our continuous search for clues and solve what mysteries we can today that will guide us from uncertainty to certainty.

In the end.

Sometimes we call it uncertainty.

Or we call it ‘the unknown.’

But you know what? … it doesn’t matter what name you put on it.

It’s fear.

In this case it is an alignment of fears of whether we will be good enough as people, good enough in skills, good enough in leadership, good enough in abilities and good enough to meet whatever challenges exist in uncertainty.

I tend to believe we would be much better off, particularly in the here & now, to cut through the bullshit and just call it by its name and face it … in all its black & white glory – uncertainty and the fear associated with it.

I am not suggesting that I don’t feel fear … of course I feel fear.

Who the hell doesn’t? <and if they say they don’t … they are lying>

I believe it helps to just face it.

And I am not saying this because I believe “fear is a great motivator.” <because I would suggest that it is really survival that is a great motivator … not fear>. But because fear, more often than not, actually freezes us … makes us do nothing. If we face it, we name it … we say ‘fuck you’ to it … we will do what it takes and needs to be done … try things in trying times.

To be clear.

We are not at a cross roads.

We are on a road and we have an obstacle … one that we just cannot see and one that no one has articulated or shown us yet. It just exists in our minds and, yet, we know it exists as much as the thought of Santa Claus in the hearts of children.

I do know I feel uncertainty and I am fairly sure I am not in a minority.

Whether you came out of the election exited or unexcited the one most common theme is “I am not sure what is going to happen.” Therefore, uncertainty resides at the core of what is in the here & now.

What I know for sure is that we will build something out of his nothingness. We will look back, or the generations yet to come will look back, and they will see something.

Today, in my 1900th post, this I know.

That something will be built from the scraps of uncertainty and it will be built upon a foundation of what is the best of us.

The structure will showcase the strengths of our better skills, capabilities and abilities.

The skyline of the future will be a reflection of the best of us having worked together to create a better version of what exists.

Why do I know this?

Anything less is not the best version of who and what we are.

Anything less means uncertainty won.

This is our test.

This is our time.

This is our certainty.

That I know.

Yeah.

On November 18th 2009 … 1899 posts ago … I wrote these words: Welcome to Enlightened Conflict.

I have never stopped believing that the best version of us is better than most of us think it is … and that everyone just needs to be reminded of their ‘better version’ in order to permit it to stand up and speak out and ‘do.’

A portion of me empathized with the feeling … and a larger portion of me balked.

Ok.

Pushed back.

And pushed back hard.

===

“People get up, they go to work, they have their lives, but you never see the headlines say, ‘Six billion people got along rather well today.’

You’ll have the headline about the 30 people who shot each other. “

—

John Malkovich

===

I certainly understand the sentiment of the article … shit … I absolutely relate to the overall sense that the world, and America, is not running on all 8 cylinders at the moment.

But.

Is the world a disaster? Do I really want to cancel the remainder of 2016 <although being able to avoid the upcoming presidential election slaughter sounds appealing>?

No. No on both questions.

Just think about these things <as a direct response to what is shared in the article>.

David Bowie died. So did Prince. As well as my favorite book’s author Harper Lee. And Elie Weisel.

I mourned all.

Keith Richards <who by any health measure should be dead> is alive. As is Paul McCartney, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan, Paul Weller, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Coretta Scott King, even all the Spice Girls, well … you get the point. In addition, like them artistically or not, Taylor Swift, John Green, John Mayer, Matt Bell, JayZ, Miranda Lambert, JK Rowling, etc. are jockeying position for this generation’s guardians of music and literature.

In the end there is a beginning and with each beginning there is an end.

On June 13th some lunatic killed too many people in Orlando.

In the other 3,143 counties and in the other 19,428 cities & towns <with municipal governments> people went to work, had lunch with friends and went home to families at night.

On the same day the Cavaliers beat the Warriors. The NY Yankees had a day off. Some athlete made some child’s day by visiting a cancer ward in some hospital <and we never heard about it>. There were 10,000 picnics that day <I made that number up>. Several million people visited a museum or national park. Public swimming pools were filled with children enjoying the beginning of summer <as children do> and about 10,829 children were born that day.

And, yes, there have been over 900 officer-involved shootings so far in 2016 and 136 black people have been killed. Outside of those 900 shootings, police interact <face-to-face or remote> with approximately 62.9 million U.S. residents age 16 or older, or about one quarter of American adults <source: 2011>, on an annual basis … that means almost 62,899,900 interactions take place without some shooting.

And while no one believes 136 people of any color should be shot … the remaining 46,281,944 African Americans in the United States are alive and <mostly> enjoy Life and the freedoms America has to offer in 2016.

And on the day 2 Muslim Americans went on a killing spree in San Bernardino approximately 3,299,998 other Muslim Americans woke up, grabbed a drink at a Starbucks on their way to work, did their jobs, contributed some taxes to the economy, bought some groceries and went to bed a little tired … just like everyone else in America.

And on that horrible day in Aurora Colorado when a disenfranchised Christian went into an abortion clinic and killed mothers the majority of the remaining 267,260,000 Christian Americans said a prayer, lived a day with dignity and faith, smiled at some people on the street, maybe complained about something they saw and joked around with their coworkers <whose faith they most likely do not even know nor does it really matter in the overall sense of camaraderie>.

On any given day 321,900,000+ <of the possible 322 million> Americans live their Life, do their jobs, have their friends, share a joke with co workers, bitch about something, smile at some point and enjoy their Life. They do not kill anyone. They do not get shot by a policeman. They do not hate so much they yell at someone or write something hateful on twitter or online.

On any given day most of the 7,436,729,532 people in the world <the population as of noon on 7/16/2106 per the World Population Clock > get up, go to work, have their lives and got along “rather well today.”

Please.

Please understand what I am saying.

Trump is wrong.

This writer is wrong.

It is not all a disaster.

I certainly am not trying to diminish bad things nor issues that should be addressed. Anyone reading my site know I have written on racism, inequality, religion and almost every social issue we face.

But I am trying to provide some perspective.

We have real issues.

And as I recently noted divisiveness exacerbates what issues we do have http://brucemctague.com/whats-going-on-must-stop . And, frankly, the media exacerbates the issues by amplifying random events to such a fever pitch that they appear larger than they are.

But none of the issues we have, racial/extremism/intolerance/inequality/poverty/etc., are unsolvable nor should they be an indication we should cancel out … well … time.

In fact.

I could argue rather than cancel a year we should be embracing what time we have to step up and start addressing whatever issues we do have.

But that’s me.

I have no interest in canceling 2016.

I have no interest in canceling anything … I want the world, and year, open for business.

And I want anything and everything to walk into my business because … well … that’s the only way I can deal with whatever it is that needs to be dealt with.

That headline was wrong. And the media is wrong to stoke such misperception.

This is not what’s going on.

There may be a clash of people’s attitudes <highlighted by the violent actions of small … very small … groups of individual’s inappropriate behavior> but the headline is inaccurate.

To be clear. A headline like this suggests an “us versus them” at its worst.

It creates an either/or mentality where complexity gets dumbed down to inaccurate simplicity.

It creates an either/or mentality which encourages us to be, and express, the worst version of ourselves.

This clearly does not, and will not, help us address the complex reality we face.

Add on the layer of the internet and social media and our worst version gets amplified.

Add on the layer that the amplified voice, and voices, the reach into the minds of the few mental-health-in-need individuals in a greater culture in which tools of violence are far too readily available.

I point out the layers because whatever we do, and we need to do something to inhibit or to stop what is going on, each layer needs some solutions to create obstacles to an alignment of disparate variables which enable the unacceptable occurrences we see.

We need to accept that divisiveness in rhetoric affects attitudes and ultimately behaviors.

We need to accept that mental health reform, societally discussed … culturally discussed … and professionally discussed, needs to be not only discussed but dealt with.

And, yes, we need to accept that gun ownership, or the prevalence of everyday people having guns, often makes police work more challenging and increases the likelihood of errors affecting people’s lives … in that there are split second decisions made on <a> whether a person they are facing has a gun and <b> will they use it or not.

All of these things lead to a difficult complex situation in which divisiveness and extreme points of views tend to not be very productive … if not even detrimental to the overall situation.

And while we can talk about guns, or the economy <because economic inequality and lack of real opportunities creates a foundation for unhappiness if not anger> or any other issue we want … we need to begin with the words.

================

“We don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.

Only notes that are different can harmonize. The same is true with people.”

―

Steve Goodier

===================

Whether we like it or not … words beget actions.

Any good speaker, any good leader, any effective protestor knows this is fact.

Their words have inspired people to act for generations.

Therefore we all must acknowledge the consequences associated with what we say.

Free speech and freedom of thought is at the core of who and what America is.

However … hate of what is said and what is thought is the counterproductive ugly side of that freedom.

I say this because you cannot be either for police or against police … they are an integral part of the fabric making up the structure of America. We are all pro police.

I say this because you cannot be either for or against immigration … unless you are a Native American they are an integral part of the fabric making up the structure of who and what America is. We are all pro immigration.

I say this because you cannot be for or against racial equality … equality is an integral part of the fabric making up the structure of how we live in America. We are all pro racial, and general, equality – of people & opportunities.

That said.

No matter one’s beliefs … the rhetoric of extremism seems to create an absurd version of “us versus them” where … well … no one wins … we are all the victims.

What I mean is that when extremism is taken in totality, where each side states that if you don’t believe what I believe you are not only wrong but “bad”, … well … uhm … the only conclusion would clearly place everyone, when taking in all views, clearly as wrong & bad, i.e., no one can be right because everyone at some point ends up in a “wrong bucket.”

Therefore, what’s going on is a divisiveness which suggests everyone is in the wrong.

And if that is true … well … in a land of nothingness nothing will inevitably win.

Anyway.

Here are the most powerful words I can think of to address this discussion.

It’s got to stop.

We need some fundamental changes … in attitudes and in behaviors.

We have to because, at this time, we are all victims.

Not just the ones who die or are physically directly affected.

We are all victims when the system fails.

We are all victims when our leaders fail.

We are victims when a small group of like minded people fail.

We are victims when an individual fails.

We are all victims if we fail to do something.

We are all victims when we begin to believe the bigger vision of who and what America is … is … well … failing.

And ultimately.

We are all victims when the rhetoric is divisive.

Look.

American violence is clearly out of hand.

American inequality is clearly out of hand.

American divisive rhetoric is clearly out of hand.

Too many simplistic inaccurate depictions of what’s going on make it incredibly difficult to find the common ground where common sense ideas can prevail.

And this is where I look to leaders and what’s going on.

Ah.

The Leaders.

Let’s call them our ‘governing officials” <politicians>.

And I discuss this hesitating … hesitating because I truly believe in the power of people and the power of an individual to say ‘it stops here & now’ and that in doing so attitudes, like dominoes, begin to fall in line.

But in a country in which politicians will not seek common ground but instead shout out the top of their lungs “all things divisive” … how can we the people be united?

If leaders <on both sides> refuse to compromise … it is us, we, everyday schmucks who pay the price.

We are the victims of their behavior.

Let’s be clear on the situation.

2% of us take one side and are violent.

Another 2% take the other side and are violent.

And 95% of us go to work every day, pretty much get along with everyone we work with, go home and wonder why it looks like the world is not a reflection of how we live our own lives.

It would be nice if our leaders acted like the 95% of us.

What’s going on is absolutely a reflection of a complex number of things … but we should not ignore the words of our leaders and the effect on our own actions.

With people like Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz … articulating unequivocal hard edged stances and stubbornly espousing uncompromising beliefs under the guise of leadership … shouldn’t they expect everyday people to do the same?

When congress members berate their counterparts and their views, the people they vehemently disagree with, as grandstanders and not capable of seeing & accepting truth … how do they expect the everyday person to act and think with regard to their fellow citizens?

=============

“I can see we’re going to get along like a house on fire,” said Miss Tick.

“There may be no survivors.”

―

Terry Pratchett

=======

When presidential candidates, presidents, congress members isolate individual members of the highest court in the land, The Supreme Court, suggesting bias or incorrect opinions or that simply because they do not agree with some particular view that they are wrong <or unable to view legal issues as legal experts> … well … how do they expect us everyday people to think and act about our legal system let alone any ‘expert’?

What’s going on needs to stop.

All of it.

I will do my part in my little corner of the world. But I call on my leaders to stop what’s going on in their larger part of the world.

They need to understand that their divisiveness sets an example for the attitudes and behaviors of the people who have selected them to lead.

What’s going on is a pervasive divisiveness driven by a diverse set of circumstances and situations and factors. All of which can look so overwhelming you almost may not be able to decide where to begin.

So I will offer the first step.

For you, and me … and my leaders.

Stop the divisive rhetoric. Words have power beyond the imagination. Stop the divisive words.

I tend to believe all of us every day schmucks know that we have problems and that there are issues to be resolved … but I would feel a shitload better if I truly believed we were united in addressing them.

When I saw it … I paused … thought … and then pasted it into the beginning of a thought piece.

Not all of us actually seek a crown in a true leadership type way.

But.

We all wish for something more than what we have. It is kind of inherent into who and what we are as people. Its not that we are perpetually dissatisfied with where we are and what we have … it’s just that there is an inner urge to discover our best version of yourself <or at least a better version than who you are at the moment>.

Now.

Part of that best version of ourselves encompasses how we pursue “more” and how we assume the responsibility, or burden, associated with the “more” <whatever it is> in our lives.

And to discover more … well … you gotta push out on current and existing limitations. In other words … you gotta look around for a new crown to wear.

While I assume the quote I used most likely was in reference to a person in charge will have to take responsibility for everything and that leadership comes with all the responsibilities associated with leading all the people <and it is a heavy burden of responsibility> … I would suggests that crowns are crowns and the burden is always a weight.

Once you assume a crown … well … assume that any little thing that goes wrong is your fault. You can have a family behind you, a team behind you, a population behind you … when the shit hits the fan … everyone looks to the one with the crown. Crowns mean you are responsible not just for the direction of efforts, and the efforts themselves … but also the outcomes, good and bad, or any and all efforts.

And while many could look at what I just wrote and say “oh, that is personal responsibility” <taking ownership of you actions & words> I would argue that there is absolutely personal responsibility … and then there is crown responsibility.

Look.

There are many different types of crown in Life.

Shit.

Crowns come in all sizes and shapes.

Power, leadership, fame, family, wealth, relationships, love … the list is pretty endless … once you pick one crown to wear … you must be ready for its consequences.

I believe it was Woody Allen who said that 80% of success in life is showing up. I would suggest the other 20% of success is how well you bear the actual burden of the crowns you wear. And, I would note, part of that burden is how well you actually push opportunity to others now that you have that crown. I say that because crown wearing is not just about problem solving or ‘leading’ … or even “I” type things… it actually contains some “what am I going to do for you” type aspects.

Yeah.

Sure.

Leadership is one crown. And whether the crown wearer actually fulfills the responsibility well or not … I tend to believe anyone seeking to wear the leadership crown understands that there is a burden that comes along with it … and almost all the different aspects of that burden that come along with it.

Responsibility and leadership is a well-recognized burden.

But all the other crowns?

All the other crowns are a little sneakier. Sometimes I think we forget some of the choices we make represent the fact that someone has just placed a crown upon our head.

Shit.

To be honest.

Sometimes I think we actually don’t like to think of some of these choices as a “putting on a crown’ type choice.

What I mean by that is we purposefully ignore the crown.

I believe we mostly do that because it is nice to think of a choice as a choice … and isolate whatever burden or responsibility we feel we should assume to that moment in time and that choice. Crowns mean … well … ongoing burden.

I tend to believe more of us, even the ones who really do not go seeking crowns, would think of some choices as moments in which a crown is placed upon us.

Maybe then we would view some choices a little differently … maybe add a little more gravitas to a choice … and certainly add a little more truth to the reality of our lives.

And maybe that is why wearing a crown can be a burden. You are accepting some truth. And truth, in and of itself, is a burden.

Anyway.

We all wear crowns.

And, in some way and in some situations, you actually wish to wear that particular crown. It would probably do more of us some good to admit this as truth, accept the misery it will most likely place upon you in additional responsibility … and understand that this understanding will ultimately set you free to rule that particular aspect of your Life just a little bit better than before.

“Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.”

–

William James

======

“When I was in grade school, they told me to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I wrote down happy.

They told me I didn’t understand the assignment,

I told them they didn’t understand life.”

–

Unknown <too often incorrectly attributed to John Lennon>

==========

William James is a quote machine but I sometimes think he had a ‘glass is half full’ view of Life and living Life.

And, yet, he has a point here.

Regardless of whether you are happy now or not … almost everything we do is built on the shambles of something.

Or maybe it is just that life is really messy and we have to build our happiness out of this mess.

Regardless … it would seem our existence is challenged by the threat of some helpless agony … in our pursuit of being happy.

Speaking of happy.

Go online and over half the time you see the second quote it is attributed to Poor John Lennon. I doubt it is his quote because it is one of those saccharine snippets you expect to read in self-help books and not from the ever-pretentious Lennon <a pretentious person would never create a quasi-cheesy pretentious quote>.

However.

The sentiment?

The sentiment is pretty spot on.

Is the purpose of life to do something of some purpose and therefore be happy?

Or is it simply to seek happiness and therefore our purpose is derived from our happiness?

Aw.

Who the hell knows.

And who the hell cares? <okay … a shitload of pop psychologists and maybe some philosophers care>.

Here is what I know.

We all seek to make some positive impact on the world whether that world be our immediate circle or some grand global circle.

And I read somewhere that to live nobly is to avert one’s eyes from the bad and seek that which can be found in the light of good.

And I think that is what James hints at … averting one’s eyes is … well … not easy.

Tell someone to not look at something an the temptation to look increases exponentially.

It is not that we seek the agony and sadness of Life it is just there to be seen.

Part of it is driven by expectations drummed into our heads which isn’t really about seeking happiness or purpose but rather we are constantly pushed & encouraged to be better than the person next to us.

We are taught almost from day one to cram stuff into our heads not to learn but to be tested against some standardized standard and measured against everyone else.

In other words … the agony is all about competing against what is considered ‘success’ and whether we meet those standards instead of a more positive agony of “I am learning but have yet so much to learn.”

In addition.

We are taught almost from day one that planning, and a plan, is the key to success and happiness. In other words … this suggests we can … uhm … plan to be happy.

That seems kinda crazy.

Shit.

It sounds like agony.

In fact.

It sounds like we are constantly sifting through the shambles of plans made and broken as we seek to make some progress <difficult to define without some plan I guess> in Life.

But you know what true agony is?

Either having no clue what you want to do with your life or encountering the emptiness of uncertainty with regard to your Life. I would suggest that in some ways they are two sides of the same coin and if you have this coin in your pocket you are carrying at least a small burden of this agony wherever you go.

In a world in which someone’s strive for success is most typically defined in some form or fashion as wealth, power or some measured result <test score, material example, IQ, title, etc.> it becomes very difficult to sit back … examine your agony … and seek to better define success thru some emotional perspective.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. in many ways they are inextricably linked … I get that.

But in the absence of wealth or power or some high falutin’ title … it sure would be nice to have some emotional happiness & purpose stored up in some mental bank account to counter it.

I am not one of those people who shout “you need to do what you love to be happy.” I actually believe to be happy you should love, or find extreme comfort, that you fulfill some purpose in Life. And that purpose doesn’t even have to be in the here & now … because depending on where you are in Life an what your situation is … it may simply be a strong thread of hope that you will reach the place where you can be “the noblest version of I” and serve the purpose which gives you some happiness & meaning beyond that high falutin’ title and that large bank account and fancy car.

In the end.

As a business guy who focuses a lot on how to communicate things to people I would suggest that everything I have written is a perfect rationale for what I always talk about the fact a business needs to be grounded in ‘selling hope.’

Maybe not desire … but what we expect to see based on out attitude toward Life <not just visual cues we have stored up in our heads>.

Life does not make it easy for us to see what is actually there because it rarely makes something simple for us.

Most things are complex.

In all there is bad and good.

In all there is wrong and right.

I don’t believe what I just wrote is an epiphany to anyone.

However.

I do believe not enough people think about it and how our own personal attitude can skew what we actually see.

Many, maybe most in today’s world, people see wrong …. and focus on wrong <albeit we may do the infamous ‘say something nice first’ before becoming maniacally focused on what we have identified as ‘wrong’>.

And a smaller group of people, who hate those people who focus on only the wrong, become blindingly oblivious to wrong and talk about sweeping hope and the inherent goodness to be found within everyone.

Both options are bad. It is like only have an ‘on/off” switch when most of us should have an attitudinal dimmer switch.

Look.

For most of us … no matter what you look at … you will choose to see what you want to see.

The one thing I can guarantee you will NOT see?

A completed puzzle.

Life, the one around you or even your own, remains a puzzle yet to be put together.

It is a puzzle with pieces which can be pulled out and replaced … it is a puzzle with pieces yet to be found … and even with pieces yet to be made.

Attitudinally I believe we all know this but … well … we hate it. A work in progress is difficult to judge because you never really know where it is on the progress scale, therefore, we like to view things & people as ‘almost finished’ or even ‘main puzzle pieces are in place.’

We are wrong to do so … and most of us know so … but it is still natural for us to do so.

====

“Things are pretty terrible but then again you don’t buy a puzzle that’s already put together.”

—

a tweet Jonah Green

====

That all may sound terrible.

And it may sometimes even look a little terrible around you.

But .. is it really terrible? Are you looking at the wrong things or are you simply seeing what you want to see?

All I can suggest is to look … really look … because sometimes the obvious is not really obvious and what you are shown is not really representative of what could be seen if you push what is being shown to you off to the side.

And, maybe most importantly, you need to push your attitude off to the side and try and see what is as … well … what is.

“The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don’t know.”

=

Barbara Kingsolver

——

==

This is about Curiosity … and self <or .. the search for understanding yourself>.

Oh.

And perpetually being dissatisfied with what you know <or think you know>.

Most people have these three things high on their list of things that they say <and think>:

=

“I know that person <and how they think>.”

–

=

–

“I know that answer.”

–

=

–

“I know what to do.”

–

=

And, yet, I think most decision makers know … or at least understand … that it really isn’t about what you know … it is about what you don’t know.

Sigh.

Unfortunately … most people are stuck on ‘I know’ <even when it is ‘think’ instead of ‘know’>.

——————–

“Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.”

=

Goethe

————————–

More philosophically I imagine this issue is a lack of ability to accept the difference between the truth … and what we wish were true. And this is especially with regard to ourselves.

Why?

Maybe it is hard to accept that we actually know less than what we not only think we know …. But what we think we SHOULD know.

Maybe it is hard to accept that someone will always know more than we do <even on the topic we know the most about – yikes!>.

Maybe it is hard to accept that we will always need to know more than what we know now.

Maybe it is hard to accept that ‘knowing’, or learning, is a bucket that can never be completely filled.

Maybe it is hard to acceptthat actual thinking is better than knowing.

Maybe it is hard to acceptthat knowing, or what you know, is relatively fleeting … and thinking has no real end.

Maybe it is hard to acceptthat the act of looking is actually more interesting than thinking itself <although I could argue that thinking & looking are so inextricably intertwined that they are almost one & the same>.

Maybe it is hard to acceptthat what you do not know about a person is more important than what you may know <and it is ABSOLUTELY hard to accept that what you know about a person today may not be true tomorrow – as they evolve and change>.

Uhm.

And maybe that leads me to the most crucial thought.

Maybe it is hard to accept that what you do not know about yourself is more important than what you may think you know about yourself.

Whew.

What you do not know about yourself?

Well.

This unsettling thought gets balanced out <positively> in that curiosity is a powerful trait <and often an innate desire>.

And, yet, let’s admit … there are some things we don’t want to be curious about … we want to know some things.

Particularly when it comes to self-type things.

This translates into the fact that at our core … not knowing yourself … or thinking you don’t know more than what you do know about yourself is … well … unsettling.

Really unsettling.

And I would argue that last thought does more to drive “I know that person <and how they think>” & “I know that answer” &“I know what to do” behavior than anything else.

When you don’t know as much about yourself to feel comfortable about yourself … well … you will seek to showcase knowledge elsewhere.

It’s kind of a natural instinct.

But.

It’s a bad natural instinct.

—

“We carry within us the wonders we seek without us.”

=

Thomas Browne

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Thomas Browne was a proponent of exploring ‘self.’ And in the self exploration in finding the good, the bad … and the value of the search itself <regardless of what is found>.

In general. In Life.

Not knowing shit is not bad.

In general, in personal Life, about understanding oneself.

Not knowing shit is not bad.

Unsettling … but not bad.

Now.
What is bad is ‘not seeking.’

The most important things in Life are the things you don’t know … not the things you do know.

That is sometimes a hard thing to accept.

Maybe it would be easier to accept if we could focus on the search for the wonders within us.

Sigh.

I fear we seek more in Life than seeking … we enjoy finding too much to simply enjoy seeking.